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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24355945">Plausible Entanglements</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverr/pseuds/silverr'>silverr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure &amp; Romance, Epistolary, Established Relationship, F/F, Fantasy, Getting Together, Metafiction, Mutual Pining, Physics, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Worldbuilding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:21:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,892</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24355945</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverr/pseuds/silverr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aurinda and Lala usually travel through spacetime mapping the location and history of celestial objects, but now and again they freelance as content creators.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Space Cartographer/Female Space-Wikipedia Contributor Who Goes Above And Beyond, Rebellious Princess/Female Knight Sent to Retrieve Her</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fandom 5K 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Nearpartner and Farpartner</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/nsmorig/gifts">nsmorig</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Lala, who'd been the nearpartner, woke up in threespace before Aurinda did, and so started to queue up the LIB's post-session processes: switching off the Frauchiger-Renner filter, cycling down the Wigner circuit, double checking the backups, monitoring the recharge.</p><p>Even after so many years, the magic of the whole process still amazed her. Granted, all she understood of the physics was that the LIB—its proper name was the Lorentz Invariance Bypass Apparatus—allowed Lala and her wife to link themselves to twinned quantum entities in such a way that when Aurinda's particle was sent into fourspace, Aurinda's <em> fivespace </em>essence was projected as well. In fivespace, Aurinda became a pure observer, a quantum camera that could temporarily become part of any object in the therethen. Although Aurinda could not interact with or influence anything—that would have been superluminal communication, something not allowed by the laws of physics—the link between the far particle and the near particle meant that there was a temporary link between Aurinda and Lala as well. During the session Lala not only experienced what Aurinda did, but, thanks to her augments, could record, downsample, and interpret their shared fivespace experience into something intelligible.</p><p>In short, for as long as the session lasted, they were kinda bypassing the laws of quantum physics. And who <em> wouldn't </em> call that magical?</p><p>When Aurinda finally rolled out of her LIB harness, a "Good," was all she could manage.</p><p>Lala knew that one word meant <em>You did a great job!, </em>since it took longer for speech and motion to return after being farpartner. "Sore?" she asked, lightly stroking Aurinda's shoulder. </p><p>"A bit." Aurinda had moved stiffly toward the computer, and was scrolling through the spectral analysis recordings.</p><p>"Time for a synovial review?" </p><p>"Soon." Aurinda leaned against Lala, slowly stretching her limbs and flexing her joints, opening and closing her hands, rolling her neck. When she was done she reached for her jumpsuit. "Hungry?" she asked. </p><p>"Starved."</p><p>.</p><p>In anticipation of the bonus they'd be getting in addition to their usual payment—one of the stars in the sector they'd just finished mapping had been a blue dwarf—they decided to splurge on unsheeted spices and hydroponic greens at Thai Troofoo.</p><p>"Fourth planet was interesting," Aurinda said. "Not the usual progression." She was meticulously arranging a spoonful of larb khua in the center of a romaine leaf. Dewy, freshly-picked, the naturally-grown truefood's topography and veining was utterly, miraculously, unique. So much more beautiful to look at than sheeted greens, whose combinations of "random" components everyone memorized after a decade or so.</p><p>Lala nodded. "I saw that! Three major epochs of darkside lights before the atmospheric shift."</p><p>Auriunda nodded, then popped the rolled, meat-stuffed leaf into her mouth. </p><p>"How can you destroy such beauty?" Lala teased.</p><p>"Because it's delicious," Aurinda said after she swallowed. "So, a therethen near the end of the first epoch?"</p><p>Lala's spoon paused above her bowl of khao soi gai. "Sure, if it was up to me, but who knows what wherewhen Corp will want next?" </p><p>"If our report stresses that the fourth planet had a long, complex history, with multiple high-achieving civilizations that likely developed interesting technologies," Aurinda said, rolling a romaine leaf for Lala, "a funder might want a closer look."</p><p>"Maybe."</p><p>"Or we could burn some freerides and do it ourselves. We've got plenty of tokens."</p><p>Lala put down her spoon. "You're joking."</p><p>"Not all all." She handed Lala the rolled leaf.</p><p>Corp was primarily interested in extending the map of galaxies and large cosmic objects for astrometry and navigation databases, and so rarely used their LIB teams for in-depth examination of a system's planets. However, occasionally they were convinced to do such an examination by someone  impatient to stake out a promising resource or scope alien tech for re-engineering. Aurinda and Lala were nearly always requested for such time-and-profit-sensitive situations, because unlike teams with dedicated roles who had to wait out the refractory period, Lala was willing and able to alternate farpartnering with Aurinda. They could perform consecutive farseeing sessions with nearly zero downtime.</p><p>"I think Corp needs a reminder that we're the most experienced LIB team they've got," Aurunda added, "and that <em> your </em>skills especially are in high demand elsewhere."</p><p>Lala, who was chewing blissfully, covered her mouth with her hand and asked, "Elsewhere where?"</p><p>"Travel Network, The Omni. Bills &amp; Moon." </p><p>Lala grinned. "Bills and Moon? Corp would downgrade us if they found out what I spend our freerides on."</p><p>"I'm sure they already know," Aurinda said, "and don't care. Not when we make them so much money." She touched the fluted edge of the last romaine leaf with her fingertip. "Last one. Want it?"</p><p>"Yes please." Lala slid her half-eaten bowl of soup over to Aurinda.</p><p>"If you're that worried about what Corp might think, we could take turns," Aurinda said as she handed the plate with the romaine and the remaining larb khua over to Lala. "Be done faster."</p><p>"But you hate doing micro."</p><p>Aurinda shrugged "I don't mind it, I just know I'll never be as good at it as you are."</p><p>Lala scoffed. </p><p>"No, seriously," Aurinda said with a laugh. "You have a genius for it." She picked up her spoon. "But it does make a nice change from mapping Boks and T Tauri all the time."</p><p>Delighted, Lala clapped her hands. "Oh, this'll be fun! It's been ages since we worked on the same wherewhen!"</p><p>.</p><p>.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Travel Brochure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>From the <i>So You'd Like to Visit?</i> series: "So You'd like to Visit The Parthenia System?" by G.A. Radcliff and L. Dawkins.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The key to a satisfying Lorentz-Invariance Bypass<em>™  </em>(aka LIB) session experience is calibrating your unit's RPT (Relative Planetary Time) for accurate therethens. </p><p><b>To calibrate your RPT automatically,</b> purchase or rent a <em> Parthenia System Module </em> from your local LIB facility. </p><p>
  <b>To calibrate your RPT manually:</b>
</p>
<ol>
<li>Using the data in <em>Table 1: Parthenian System Data,</em> locate <strong>Parthenia-1</strong>. </li>
<li>Set an orbital reference point, and observe 10 rotations.</li>
<li>Set this as your <strong>threespace BTU</strong> (Base Time Unit).</li>
<li>Using the data in <em>Table 1: Parthenian System Data,</em> locate <strong>Parthenia-5</strong><sup>†</sup>.</li>
<li>Set your Ephemeris Perspective to <strong>Parthenia-6</strong>. (Thermospheric or Exospheric orbits are sufficient.)</li>
<li>Locate the supernova event <strong>2135jgavq</strong> (SolTerra Numbering System), which was visible from Parthenia-6 for 37 BTUs. (Adjust your granularity<sup>††</sup> if necessary.)</li>
<li>Set this event as <strong>CE1</strong>.</li>
<li>Locate <strong>JDP-423876</strong>, which passes through the system every 6217.45 BTUs.</li>
<li>Locate the collision of JDP-423876 with Parthenia-8.</li>
<li>Set this event as <strong>CE2</strong>.</li>
<li>Divide the delta between CE1 and CE2 into <strong>10<sup>9</sup></strong> units.</li>
</ol><p>You're done! Happy travels!</p><p>————————————-</p><p>
  <span class="small">†: If planning your travel using materials based on a source other than the authorized Radcliff-Dawkins surveys, adjust your RPT accordingly. The Corp is not responsible for errors in travel based on non-authorized wherewhen information.<br/>
††: As of this publication, eons of this system prior to the supernova event have not been fully mapped.</span>
</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Romance Novel, First Draft: Introduce Doctor and Commander</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>For <em>An Improbable Entanglement</em> (working title). To be published by Bills and Moon in 2137.  "by L Dawkins (writing as K. D. Salwin)" [lol]</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>.</p><p>.</p><p>I have spent half my life following the commander, slogging through swamps, crawling through caves, edging along rock ledges, trudging through deserts, taking cover behind barricades from enemy arrows and firebolts, and otherwise flying, swimming, and burrowing, all so as to be at hand when her body needs mending. </p><p>I am asked from time to time why a physician of my caliber is submitting herself to the privations and dangers of the encampment and battlefield. "Surely someone else can do it?" they say to me. "Surely there are other medics in the Great Army?" They ask this, I assume, because they feel that I should instead inhabit tastefully decorated offices in a wealthy neighborhood, from which I would tend to neurasthenic ladies and gouty gentlemen. </p><p>Of course, what they mean by "a physician of my caliber" has nothing to do with my training or my expertise, but my aristocratic background and my presumably "refined" sensibilities. </p><p>I never explain myself to such asinine questioners. Let them think whatever they like of my motivations: that I am fleeing a tragic past, or that I am driven by love of country, or a desire to keep the empire strong, or even that I am at the mercy of a decades-long willfulness or moon-cycles or a premature senility. They would never, could never, understand that, for me, tending to the commander is the linchpin of my life. Each time I staunch bleeding or set a broken bone or stitch up a wound, I feel proud—no, I feel <em> humble</em>—to have the opportunity to perform such a sacred duty.</p><p>And so yes, I follow her, even when I am unhappy at the reckless way she throws herself into dangerous situations. I understand her, you see. For her, duty is primary: she is unwilling to remain idle when there is work to be done, and is tireless in defense of the oppressed— </p><p>No. Best not to even think such thoughts. </p><p>"It's a diplomatic mission," the commander was saying. "We've been asked to bring the princess back to the capital."</p><p>"Will that quell the rebellions?"</p><p>"If she's brought back alive, yes." </p><p>What she had not said was that, were the princess to die, it would only fuel the flames. "I can't imagine she'll come willingly," I said. "Do you plan to use force?"</p><p>"I don't think it will come to that." She gave a small, tight smile. "I'm going to try to charm her."</p><p>I rolled my eyes. "What do the king and queen say about this?"</p><p>"I do not know; I have not seen them."</p><p>We looked at each other for a long moment; finally she said, "The Exarchos claims he's sending me at their request. Who am I to question that?"</p><p>.</p><p>.</p>
<hr/><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>"That seemed surprisingly productive for a first session," Aurinda said once Lala had opened her eyes. "I didn't get much of the setting, though."</p><p>"We'll pick that up later." Lala hadn't exited the LIB apparatus after farparting, but then, unlike Aurinda, she claimed to find the gel-filled hammock chair comfortable enough to sleep on afterward. In general she tolerated farparting better than Aurinda: she was able to stay in fivespace longer, didn't seem to take as great a physical hit, and her cognitive processes bounced back faster.  </p><p>Aurinda held out an allinone drink. "Why the doctor? Was she the one with the highest CI?"</p><p>Lala shook her head, then took the allinone. "I don't have that much control over the initial landing point," she said. "But my gut says she's near a bright point."</p><p>"The commander, maybe? She felt like someone who gets things done."</p><p>"Could be."</p><p>"What are you going to call them?"</p><p>" 'Minerva Wallace' for the doctor," Lala said, then took a deep pull of the allinone, "and, hm, something like 'Dame Commander Rusula Castleton'?  And 'Vivian Philomena Grace of Parthenia' for the princess?"</p><p>Aurinda laughed. "Those will be a mouthful for the audibles."</p><p>Lala grinned, finished off her drink, then burped. "Blame it on Bills and Moon. They like elaborate."  She handed the empty container to Aurinda, then lay back in the hammock, stretching.</p><p>"Could the doctor be the bright point?"</p><p>"Maybe. She's very layered."</p><p>"That dangle was intriguing. If she feels she has to repress certain thoughts, I'm hoping we find out why "</p><p>"Too early to say," Lala said sleepily. "Though I definitely parsed an undercurrent of fear." She yawned.</p><p>Aurinda spread a blanket over her and kissed her forehead. "Well, we'll see what comes up next session."</p><p>.</p><p>.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Romance Novel, First Draft: Develop Commander</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Commander Rusula Castleton considered her spyglass as essential to her survival as her sword. While the sword kept her alive during battles, the spyglass allowed her to retain her sanity: as long as she had it pressed to her eye to collect information, she could think uninterrupted.</p><p>Four days' march from the capital had taken Rusula and a select group of her finest warriors deep into a vast forest that spread over a landscape furrowed by gorges and riddled with hidden caves. Without the map provided by the Exarchos—a map that was, to Rusula's thinking, suspiciously accurate—they would have wandered for years in this green labyrinth before finding their target. </p><p>Whatever its provenance, the map had led them unerringly to the location of the Guilisian rebels; that was, however, the end of its accuracy. The official stance was that the princess had only a handful of supporters, disorganized and poorly equipped, but from her perch on a ridge downwind of the encampment, Rusula had to wonder where the people who said such things had seen a hand with almost  two hundred fingers. The encampment was surrounded by a triple palisade studded with cannon, and the well-armored and well-armed patrols looked to be disciplined and well-placed. There was no way Rusula could, as had been suggested, "slip in and carry off the princess," unless the princess was given to solitary wanderings in the forest.</p><p>And so Rusula kept her spyglass pressed to her eye until she had weighed the possibilities and decided on a new approach.</p><p>.</p><p>"You're going to <em>what?"</em>  Minerva Wallace was one of the few who weren't intimidated by her rank; she appreciated it. </p><p> "You don't approve?"</p><p>"No, I don't." The gray-haired doctor looked furious. "They'll cut you down on sight!"</p><p>"I don't think they will," Rusula said. "Princess Vivian and her forces have conducted themselves with honor. They've managed their sabotages and vandal actions without loss of life."</p><p>"Thus far," Minerva said.</p><p>"Don't worry. We won't approach them without a protection ward—but I also feel confident that they will honor a request for parley." </p><p>"Not even Ankerios' magic can protect you from a half-hundred arrows!"</p><p>"True." she shrugged. "Well, if they attack, we'll know I was wrong. And you'll be there to patch me up."</p><p>"If there's anything left." Minerva sounded angry, but her eyes glittered with unshed tears. "Rusula, is it possible that this is deliberate? That the Exarchos doesn't mean you to return?"</p><p>Rusula sighed. "I have considered that. But—" She shook her head. "No. After all, am I not known for accomplishing the impossible?"</p><p>"You can't keep—"</p><p>"Yes," Rusula said. "Yes, I can."</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><hr/><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>"Oh, I think the Commander has a secret as well," Lala said, steadying Aurinda as she rolled out of the LIB. </p><p>"Seems like." Aurinda groped for the table, then eased herself down into a firm, non-moving chair. "Maybe it's something to do with the princess. Or the rebels. You'll find out next time." She rubbed her face. "Ugh, I'm getting old, Lala."</p><p>"Too old to come to bed and snuggle?"</p><p>Aurinda managed a weary smile. "Oh, no. Never too old for that."</p><p>.</p><p>.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Romance Novel, First Draft: Introduce Princess; Initial Fireworks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Princess Vivian Philomena Grace of Guiliese looked down at the map spread on the camp table and rubbed her eyes. Along with her lieutenants Bear, Weasel, and Cat, she had spent most of the day weighing the trustworthiness of various scouting reports so that they could plan where to strike next, but as usual the only thing they all agreed on was that The Tyrant of Guiliese needed to fall. Bear wanted to sabotage more munitions caches; Weasel wanted to steal gold shipments, while Cat was, as always, saying nothing while looking faintly amused. </p><p>Personally, Vivian could see benefits and dangers to both plans. Destroying munitions lessened The Tyrant's ability to arm his forces and suppress rebellions among the people, but destroying the caches had a high risk of killing people. Stealing gold, on the other hand, allowed them to keep themselves supplied and to hire scouts, but from what she could tell, about half the people who had joined the rebellion were there, not because they wanted to ease the suffering of the Guiliese people as a whole, but because they thought the rebellion was a way to pick up easy money. (Truthfully, she often suspected Weasel of being such a one.)</p><p>She sighed. Truly, all of her council were varying alloys of the idealistic and the self-serving, though in most the mixture tended more to the first. Bear had been her tutor in the palace, and had fled with her because he loved her like a daughter, but, like Joutsen and Ankerias, he had lost many friends to The Tyrant's oppressive regime, and sought revenge. Weasel was nearly a pure mercenary, but he had associations with nearly every band of brigands and thieves' guild in the country, and, because of this, the ability to suspect and sniff out base considerations that did not occur to the others. As for Cat... well, who ever knew what a cat was thinking? </p><p>And Vivian's own motives weren't entirely pure, either. Yes, she had been moved to action when she learned of the suffering of her people, but she had also seen fomenting a rebellion as a way of escaping the stifling strictures of court life. Do good, and be free: was it too much to ask? Why should she feel guilty that her choice to fight The Tyrant had also saved her from being handed off in marriage to a royal stranger in another country?</p><p>"Do good, and be free," she murmured.</p><p>Her five co-conspirators stopped what they were doing, and after looking at her for a moment repeated, "Do good, and be free."</p><p>"Alright," she said. "Ruuna Pass is out, then; if the Azure Wind has been active there I don't want to interfere. That leaves only—"</p><p>Without warning, the tent flap was violently thrown open and a small hunched figure staggered in. Ankerias' and Joutsen's protective wards shimmered into place, while both Bear and Cat drew their weapons. </p><p>"Stop!" Vivian, said, having recognized the intruder as a boy who went by the name of Otter.</p><p>As the others lowered their weapons the boy bowed and panted, "Deepest pardon, your highness! A Guilisean attack force approaches the southwest gate!"</p><p>"How many?" Bear asked.</p><p>"Five."</p><p>"Hundred?"</p><p>"No," Otter stammered. "Just five."</p><p>"Hardly an attack force, then," Vivian said. </p><p>"Five in the open, a hundred in the trees," Cat said, making one of the wooden tokens used to mark map targets alternately appear and disappear between her fingers.</p><p>Vivian inclined her head to concede the point. "How are the five equipped?"</p><p>"One is unarmed and wears a healer's surplice. The other four in are light armor," Otter said. "Three of them are armed with swords, pikes, or maces; the last carries a white cloth painted with a green chalice."</p><p>Vivian looked at Bear. "A parley banner?"</p><p>Weasel scoffed. "You're not thinking of meeting with them?" </p><p>"Why not?" Vivian said. "I'm curious to see what they have to say. And we outnumber them fifty to one."</p><p>"As far as we know."</p><p>"There's only one way to find out."</p><p>The six of them left the tent and made their way to the southeast gate, then climbed the ladder to the parapet.  </p><p>Below them, it was just as Otter had described. Five Guileseans stood just inside the edge of the cleared space; behind them was a thick underbrush that likely concealed  dozens more. The Guilesians wore light leather and chain, although the armor of the banner-bearer—a tall, strongly built woman with dark hair—was noticeably elaborate.</p><p>Ankerias, who was examining the group through his cupped hands, said, "They're all warded. The archer has some magic, though not enough to explain the complexity of the spell on the banner bearer."</p><p>"It's curious they're not all similarly protected," Vivian said, and asked Bear, "She anyone you know?" </p><p>"I can't tell from this distance," he said. "Could be Castleton's daughter."</p><p>Vivian hummed softly, then asked Ankerias, "Any surprises in the trees?" </p><p>The thaumaturge lowered his hands and closed his eyes; after a few moments he shook his head. "Nothing but the winged and four-footed."</p><p>Vivian was about to call down to the soldiers when the banner bearer took a few steps forward and called up to them, "Are you satisfied, Princess Vivian, that we mean you no ill?"</p><p>"Who are you, and why are you here?"</p><p>"I am Dame Commander Rusula Castelton," the barrier bearer said, "and I am here simply to talk."</p><p>"Lies," Weasel murmured. "She's here to kill you."</p><p>"We are talking now, are we not, Commander Castleton?" Vivian called back. </p><p>"Surely it is better for us to sit together and speak like civilized beings, then shout at each other across this clearing?" Castleton  said. "The noise is frightening the birds."</p><p>"The birds don't mind, Commander," Bear said. </p><p>"You worry that inviting me inside your compound will allow me to see too much of your supplies and people," Castleton replied. "I assure you, I've already cataloged your resources from up on the ridge."</p><p>Vivian wasn't surprised; after all, it was standard practice before approaching an enemy encampment. She was, however, concerned that her scouts had not noticed the enemy's approach, or their spying.</p><p>"You might want to consider distributing your munitions more widely," Rusula continued. "Doing so will also lessen the damage from explosions should a fire break out in your compound."</p><p>"She's threatening us!" Weasel hissed.</p><p>"Thank you for the advice, Commander Castleton," Vivian said. "But I still see no reason not to converse from here."</p><p>In response the commander turned and handed the banner to one of her soldiers, then began taking off her sword belt, gauntlets, and boots. </p><p>"Why is she doing that?" asked Ankerias' husband Joutsen.</p><p>"To convince us she has no concealed weapons." Bear said with a soft chuckle. "She's her mother's daughter, that's for sure."</p><p>"If she's doing all that without us asking," Weasel muttered,  "you can bet she has at least two more daggers hidden."</p><p>Rusula had continued to remove her armor, and was now barefoot, clad only in leggings and a shirt. Turning back to face Vivian, she asked, "And now? Will you meet me outside your gate so that we might speak in a more civilized manner?"</p><p>"My lieutenants do not trust you, Commander Castleton," Vivian explained, "and thus do not wish you to approach."</p><p>"How might I convince them otherwise?" Rusula asked. "Shall I take out my hairpins as well?" </p><p>"Oh, I never thought of that," Weasel said. "They could be poisoned."</p><p>"Her hair is braided, you log," Cat said. "There are no hairpins in it."</p><p>Rusula took several steps forward, then  turned in a slow circle, holding her shirt up just high enough to show that she had no weapons tucked into the waistband of her leggings. </p><p>"I don't think that's good enough," Weasel shouted down at her. "You could have a dagger hidden—"</p><p>Vivian silenced him with a look.</p><p>"I remind you that I came here to talk," Rusula said, "not to provide entertainment for your troops."</p><p>Despite herself, Vivian smiled. "Alright, stay where you are," she said. "I will meet you outside the gate."</p><p>"Lady Vivian—" Bear warned.</p><p>Vivian put her hand on his shoulder. "I won't go close enough for her to grab me."</p><p>"Well that's a pity," Cat said, and winked.  </p><p>Vivian was still smiling as she descended the ladder.</p><p>.</p><p>Ankerios insisted on adding two additional protection spells to Vivian's wards, and on setting up a dome-shield just outside the gate. </p><p>Vivian handed her daggers to Cat. Bear looked for a moment as though he were going to object, but instead gave a brief nod. "A gesture?" he asked.</p><p>"A gesture," she said. "If she is truly unarmed, she needs to see that I am as well."</p><p>She motioned to the guards to open the gate just enough for her to slip through, then motioned to Commander Castleton to join her under Ankerios' shimmering dome.</p><p>Vivian's pulse began hammering in her throat as Rusula approached, but not from fear. There was something... annoyingly attractive about Commander Castleton. Infuriating, even, because the woman was not all that stunning. Her features were plain, her golden-brown skin the color of...  sand. Yes, wet sand. That was it exactly. And while it was true that Rusala's long hair was jet black and shiny as raven's feathers, it was… coarse, and pulled back into an unkempt braid from which stray hairs sprang like—brambles. Yes, brambles. And Castleton seemed to know full well how distracting her breasts were under her sweat-dampened shirt, nipples coyly poking the thin fabric. She acted as if she knew that Vivian was becoming weak-kneed with the sight of them, with the thought of kissing her full lips, or of being touched by her battle-scarred hands…</p><p>"Are you well, Princess Vivian?" Rusula asked as she stopped just out of arm's reach.</p><p>She had asked politely, but Vivian felt scarlet flooding her cheeks. She mustn't forget that this woman was the  servant of those she was fighting, and therefore was her enemy. Her <em> enemy. </em>  "I am. You have my attention. Speak."</p><p>"The Exarchos—" Rusula began.</p><p>Vivian cut her off, anger and embarrassment fueling her sharpness. "The Tyrant, you mean." </p><p>"—requests that you allow me to escort you to the capital."</p><p>Vivian laughed derisively. "Why would I do that?"</p><p>"If you are truly dedicated to the welfare of our people, then you must convince your forces to lay down their arms." </p><p>"Again I ask, why?"</p><p>"To stop our people dying in this rebellion."</p><p>Vivian was steel: the words rising in her throat burned off her momentary weakness. "We will stop the rebellion the day there is nothing more to rebel against," Vivian said, "but to lay down arms now? To do nothing when old men and women are killed because they walk too slowly across the path of a passing noble? To do nothing when starving children are killed because they dare steal a scrap of food? To do nothing when mothers and daughters are taken from families to serve the lust of soldiers? This, we will not do. It will be far better to die calling for freedom than it would be to go meekly to the grave!"</p><p>There was an expression in the commander's eyes that Vivian could not give a name to. "There are other ways to fight," she said quietly.</p><p>"Name them."</p><p>Rusula sighed. "Highness, I have a duty to bring you to the capital;  I give you my word that we will leave your camp untouched."</p><p>"Just we two are returning?" Vivian asked. "Will we share a tent during the return trip? A blanket?" She was suddenly furious.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p>
<hr/><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>"Ugh, just when it got interesting!" Lala said.</p><p>"Vivian's smitten, isn't she?"</p><p>Lala nodded. "That initial rush of physical attraction is so… " She waved her hands. "I can't put it into words!"</p><p>"You'll find some by the time you send the story to Bills and Moon," Aurinda said as she carefully removed the backups from the LIB control console. </p><p>Lala rested her chin on her hand and asked dreamily, "I hope next session we'll find out if the commander is attracted to Vivian." She noticed Aurinda's uneasy expression. "What?"</p><p>"It feels invasive," Aurinda said hesitantly. "Poking into their thoughts and feelings." When Lala made a sad little noise she continued, "I'm not saying I won't keep doing it, it's just that with astrometry, there's almost never anything hidden or unexpected. Spectrum analysis and G and kinematics, it's all overt. There's never any reason to dig." She held up her hand before Lala could object. "Correction: there's <em> rarely  </em>any reason to dig. I do remember the binary micro-singularities in that cloud planet." </p><p>"But, that was once, in what, seventeen hundred sessions?" Lala said, and sighed. "You're right. Surveying celestials isn't the same as surveying sentients."</p><p>"So how do you—" Now it was Aurinda's turn to hand-wave. "You always seem so comfortable with it. How can I get there?"</p><p>"By remembering that, relative to us, they've been dead for thousands of years," Lala said. "So we're not really there while they are alive; we're following the ripples they left in spacetime. It's like reading the most comprehensive biography ever written." She brushed a lock of hair off Aurinda's forehead. "Maybe you'd feel more comfortable in the doctor from now on?"</p><p>Aurinda shook her head. "She's not as interesting as a source for the story you're telling."</p><p>"Oh, I don't know," Lala said. "She's close to the commander, and she has secrets of her own as well. I think there's value in her point of view." Seeing that Aurinda still looked doubtful, she added, "Remember too that these three are just a starting point. The story I write will be only partly woven from fivespace observation of what they did and thought and felt: there will be a lot of invention too. Filling in the gaps, and changing details to make things more dramatic. To make a good story."</p><p>She paused for a minute, then put her hand on Aurinda's arm. "I mean, we're calling the minor characters Bear and Weasel and Cat and Otter, but not only is it unlikely that they have those exact animals on their planet, they probably don't even have <em>any</em> warm-blooded, fur-covered, bilaterally symmetrical, carbon-based life forms. All we can know is that fivespace connects the attitude they have toward four different critters on their planet as we have to bears and weasels and cats and otters on <em>our</em> planet."</p><p>"Alright," Aurinda said. "You've convinced me. I'll stay with the doctor for now."</p><p>.</p><p>.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Romance Novel, First Draft: The Agreement (aka Rusula's Dilemma)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>.</p><p>.</p><p>I was as shocked as everyone else when Commander Castleton told us that Princess Vivian had agreed to return with us to the capital. "Get ready to move out," she said.</p><p>"I can't believe it," I said quietly when the others had moved off. "She's coming peacefully, and alone? Without any of her rebel advisors? How did you get her to agree to that?"</p><p>Rusula was packing the cooking gear. "I promised to destroy all copies of the map we used to get here, to keep the location of their encampment secret, and to protect the princess during our journey. In return, Vivian gave me her word that she would not try to escape."</p><p>I shook my head. "That makes no sense. We could easily have made many copies of the map!"</p><p>"True. Handing over the map is a symbolic gesture of exchange. Vivian wants an end to the violence as much as anyone. By agreeing to meet with the Exarchos, she'll be seen as offering—"</p><p>"This isn't like you," I said. "What's got you so muddle-headed?"</p><p>Rusula pressed her lips into a hard line and began shaking out her ground cloak. "My judgment is not clouded."</p><p>I stepped close to her and said softly, "Rusula, I can understand if you're—"</p><p>"Pack your things, doctor. Unless you want to be left behind."</p><p>"I can't decide what's worse," I snapped. "Pretending you don't have feelings for her, or pretending not to know what will happen once she's delivered to The Tyrant!"</p><p>Rusula looked up at me. Even as she said stonily, "I know my duty, and I must do what that duty dictates," there was anguish in her dark eyes.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p>
<hr/><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>"Are you okay?" Lala whispered.</p><p>"I get it now," Aurinda said when she had recovered enough to speak complete sentences. "I totally need to know how this turned out."</p><p>.</p><p>.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Romance Novel Scene, First Draft: Complications</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>.</p><p>.</p><p>The night was noisy outside the tent, a tapestry woven from the sounds of night birds and other small creatures.</p><p>It was cold as well, and Vivian shivered, but she was determined not to go back into the tent, even to fetch a blanket. Not when it meant going back into that warm, mesmerizing closeness where all she could hear was Rusula's breathing and the pounding of her own traitorous heart, a heart that urged her to reach out, to touch and be touched, to seek and give comfort.</p><p>She scowled. Perhaps the Guiliseans had cast a spell on her? It wasn't unheard of, was it? Love magic, curses of lust… and they did have a magic-weaver.</p><p>There was a crunch. A dark shape loomed next to her for an instant, and then sank to the ground. </p><p>It was Rusula. Commander Castleton. "Have I offended you, Princess Vivian?" she asked.</p><p>It was the first time the commander had spoken to her since they had left the encampment nearly a full day before. True, Vivian had not made herself open to conversation as she had led the five Guilesians through the half-hidden trails, but she would have preferred to be the administrator of Castleton's silence, and not its recipient. "Of course not."</p><p>"I noticed that you are taking a different path out of these lands than the one I followed here," she said. "Do you intend to take us through Ruuna Pass?"</p><p>"Afraid of being robbed by the Azure Wind?"</p><p>"Not particularly, but news of your return to the capital will spread quickly if we are marching along such a well-traveled road." After a moment she said softly, "Ah, I see."</p><p>So, Castleton wasn't entirely stupid, then. If the people knew their princess was returning, The Tyrant wouldn't dare turn her into a martyr.  "Do you know what it's like to grow up in the castle?" Vivian asked.</p><p>"No, but my mother told me stories." </p><p>"Your mother," Vivian said. "The Lioness of the Southern Reaches. Commander of King Ori's army for almost forty years."</p><p>"That's right." Rusula sounded amused. </p><p>"When I was a little girl, Andromakhe Castleton was one of my heroes," Vivian said. "I wanted so badly to trade places with her. Or you."</p><p>Now Rusula did laugh. "Why? You were a princess!"</p><p>"I envied your freedom," Vivian said. "Do you have any idea what it's like to never have a moment alone? To be crowded by servants who want to dress you, bathe you, feed you? Brush your hair, read to you? Write your letters for you?" She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I had to sneak off and hide any time I wanted to do anything for myself, by myself, so of course I was envious of you. I could imagine what your life was like! Riding with the army, training for battle. Hunting your own food, and cooking it as well. Climbing hills and singing.  Reading books and swimming in rivers. All of those things, whenever you wanted."</p><p>Rusula shook her head. "You had an overly-romanticized view of it, princess. Yes, my life was freer in some ways than your velvet fetters, but I assure you, a soldier's life is hardly her own either. Obedience to duty is a narrow road, and is nearly always a trudge drained of joy by near-constant exhaustion and boredom. My belly was rarely full, my body was rarely free of pain or discomfort, and I was always digging latrines."</p><p>"You had to do that? Even as the general's daughter?"</p><p>"Especially as the general's daughter."</p><p>"If being a soldier was so horrible, why have you remained in the army?"</p><p>"To protect those who need protection," Rusula said after a long silence. "To fight disorder and injustice."</p><p>Rusula was being honest with her, sharing a deep truth, yet it made Vivian angry, even as she knew her anger was unreasonable and unfair. "To protect the disorderly and unjust, you mean," she said. "Sending soldiers to beat and kill farmers who barely have enough food for a month after paying their yearly tithe to The Tyrant. Suppressing the truth by dragging off anyone who dares voice any criticism."</p><p>"Yes, that happens," Rusula said. The softness and warmth were gone from her voice. "There are some who use their station for base and ignoble purposes. But to me, being a commander is still the best way to serve."</p><p><em>Serve.</em> The word hung in the air, tantalizing, metallic, hypnotic, and for a moment Vivian had the urge to say, "Well, serve me, then!"</p><p>She clamped her lips together. What was wrong with her?  Had she  managed to avoid attachment for so long, fleeing the golden cage of royal marriage, barely allowing herself even the lightest camaraderie with Bear, with Joutsen, with Cat, only to surrender her freedom to this… stranger? To the enemy?</p><p>But she had, hadn't she? Even now she could hardly think of anything but baring herself, clinging like a frail vine thirsty for the sun, arching her leaves and spreading her— </p><p>.</p><p>.</p><hr/><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>"Kicked you out again?"</p><p>Lala nodded. She was still in the hammock chair; she put her arm over her eyes.</p><p>"Such powerful emotions," Aurinda said. "The push and pull is tearing Vivian apart. Not surprising, though: she's held herself so apart for so long she's literally aching with loneliness."</p><p>Lala nodded again. "Contralto fog."</p><p>"But here's what I don't get: Vivian is clearly drawn to Rusula, not only physically—"</p><p>"Orange-red pheromones."</p><p>"—but also because she sees her as a symbol of the freedom she didn't have, so, in that way they complement each other, don't they? And they are also kindred spirits, in a way, because they're both really intense about protecting the weak. So, with all that, I don't understand why Vivian is so determined to hold herself back from happiness."</p><p>"Fear."</p><p>"She sees love and affection as a trap, at the same time that she longs for it."</p><p>"Piteous, thrashing creature."</p><p>Aurinda took Lala's hand and gently pulled her out of the LIB chair. "Well, despite that I'm going to imagine that, immediately after what we just saw, they fell on each other and made out for a couple of hours."</p><p>Lala smiled as she leaned on Aurinda's shoulder. "Maybe they sang."</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Romance Novel, First Draft: Crisis</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Rusala woke just as dawn's light was infusing the tent, to find that Vivian had curled close during the night, seeking warmth. Rusula didn't know why she had been surprised to learn that Vivian too was weighed down by a burdensome legacy, struggling to define herself as something other than a tradable commodity: it wasn't much different than Rusala's own struggle to move out from General Andromakhe's shadow.</p><p>The princess' usual faint frown and combative air were absent in sleep, making her look almost approachable—although her chapped lips, and the smudge of dirt by her ear, and the rough linen shirt and leggings she wore helped as well. No longer a pampered, perfumed bauble packaged in a silken gown, but a true champion of the people.</p><p>How different it all would have been, how much simpler, if they had been the daughters of carpenters or magic-weavers, or even farmers! Rusula closed her eyes and pictured a field of flowers, glowing with honeyed light and drowsy caresses… </p><p>Her idyll was interrupted by a crackle of branches outside the tent.</p><p>She pulled away from Vivian and scrambled to her feet a moment before Apuri, her second, threw open the flap. "What is it?"</p><p>"Neljas is gone."</p><p>Neljas, who had been on watch overnight, was—had been—one of her strongest fighters, a blade user with some magic skills. "Signs of struggle?" Rusula asked as she pulled on her boots.</p><p>"None. Kolmas is searching in an outward spiral."</p><p>"Doctor Wallace?"</p><p>"Undisturbed, and still sleeping."</p><p>"Good. Recall Kolmas, and let's get going before. If there's someone out there trying to pick us off, let's make them work for it."</p><p>"Maybe your Neljas defected and went back to my encampment," Vivian said. She was sitting up, looking both annoyed and smug.</p><p>Rusula ignored her.  </p><p>.</p><p>They were all—well, the four who were not the princess—tense as bowstrings, hyper-aware of every odd sound. </p><p>Then too, Vivian was indeed leading them toward Ruuna Pass. Rusula tried not to meet Minerva Wallace's worried glances: she too felt as if she was missing something, something vital.</p><p>They were about an hour's walk from Ruuna Pass when it began to rain, large drops that pattered on the leaves.</p><p>And masked the sound of the arrows. The attackers were behind them, to the left of the path. Apuri went down with a cry, her life bubbling out around the shaft in her throat. As Rusula, hoping that the mage spells applied in the capital were still viable,  threw herself on Vivian, Kolmas took two arrows to the shoulder the instant after his throwing knives flew.</p><p>He crashed into the undergrowth. Rusula heard a high cry, but it was not Kolmas.</p><p>She lifted herself just enough off the princess to see the doctor, sitting up but staring blankly at an arrow in her thigh. Beyond her, Apuri, unmoving, looked to the sky.</p><p>"Stay down," Rusula whispered to Vivian, who nodded once.</p><p>Crouching, Rusula moved as quietly as possible in the direction Kolmas had taken.</p><p>She came across a dead archer and gasped. It was not that Kolmas' blades had struck true; it was that the archer wore armor with the insignia of the Exarchos. </p><p>Rusula searched the archer's pockets, but found nothing. She then exhaled a silent, steadying breath, and listened. No unusual sounds, but no odd silences, either. Had the second archer been driven off, or killed? And what of Kolmas?</p><p>She listened harder, and there, just there, the faintest rattling gurgle. She closed her eyes to fix the location in her mind, then moved swiftly.</p><p>It was Kolmas, atop the corpse of the second archer. Still alive, but bleeding out from a pulsing wound in his thigh.</p><p>"Tyrant's men," he gasped, and then he died.</p><p>Biting her lip, Rusula rolled him off the archer and closed his eyes. "Good bye, my friend," she said, then searched the second archer's pockets. This time she found a map, a smaller, simplified version of the one Rusula has used to get to Vivian's encampment, but with symbols inked at various locations. She tucked the map inside her shirt, found two stones and pieces of moss for Kolmas' body, and then hurried back to the path.</p><p>To her surprise, Vivian had not only helped Minerva bandage her leg wound, but had collected stones and moss for Apuri as well.  </p><p>"The attackers were sent by the—by The Tyrant," Rusula said as they moved Apuri's body off the path and arranged it as best they could. "We've got to get to Ruuna Pass; I know of a cave we can hide in until nightfall."</p><p>"Leave me," Minerva said weakly as Rusula and Vivian helped her stand. "I'll only slow you down."</p><p>"Hush," Rusula said. </p><p>Vivian was unusually quiet for the next hour, taking more of Minerva's weight than Rusula had thought she'd be able to. She didn't question how Rusula knew so unerringly where to go, and only met Rusula's eyes when they both noticed that the bandage around the doctor's thigh wound was already soaked through with fresh blood.</p><p>When they finally reached the pass Rusula held up her hand for silence and listened again until she was satisfied that they weren't to be ambushed, then led them down a narrow defile honeycombed with shadowy niches.</p><p>The one she finally entered looked no different than the others, but after a dogleg tunnel it opened up into a large, dimly lit space.</p><p>Vivian took in the firepit, the two cots, the shelves of supplies, the camp chair at the makeshift desk, and the pile of weapons, but said nothing. She helped settle Minerva on one of the cots, then tucked a faded blanket around the older woman as Rusula poured out a cup of water from an incongruously elaborate enamelled pitcher.</p><p>As the doctor took the cup she grasped Rusula's wrist and whispered, "Tell her."</p><p>"Tell me what?" Vivian asked.</p><p>Rusula sighed, then said, "I'm the Azure Wind. I've been  fighting The Tyrant all along."</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><hr/><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Aurinda came back to threespace to find Lala pacing back and forth excitedly, clutching her hair. "Wait, WHAT?" she was saying over and over. "That was—how did we not pick that up? I can't believe it! What do you think will happen?"</p><p>Aurinda pointed to the console and managed to say, "You'll decide."</p><p>"Oh, I know I can do anything I want in the <em>book,"</em>  Lala said. "I meant back in the original therethen. Did Vivian flip out when Rusula's secret was revealed? Would she have felt it was a violation of trust or something?"</p><p>"Might have."</p><p>"Well, that would have been wrong!" Lala got a warming blanket to drape over Aurinda, then handed her an allinone to drink. "The thing is, their relationship succeeds only if they can move past their roles of good soldier and loner, because those don't fit who they really are at their core."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"Because down deep Rusula wants to do what's right, and Vivian wants to share her life and passion with someone. No, it's not even that they <em>want</em>  to do that, they <em> need </em>to do that. It's the essence of who they are. That's why they were conflicted. Even before they met each other."</p><p>"Probably."</p><p>"If they were able to go forward, they must have gotten over their fears. Rusula was probably afraid that she'd be less effective as a full-time outlaw than a soldier, and Vivian clearly was afraid that loving someone meant a loss of freedom."</p><p>"Clearly."</p><p>"I really do hope they made it work," Lala said. "No, I'm <em>sure</em>  they did. I wonder who caved first?"</p><p>"Rusula."</p><p>Lala thought for a minute, then nodded. "I can see that. She wasn't trying as hard to suppress who she was and what she wanted. Still, I think it was Vivian. She was a volcano ready to explode!"</p><p>"Bet?"</p><p>"Hydroponic greens at Troofoo?"</p><p>"Of course."</p><p>"You're on!"</p><p>.</p><p>.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Omnipedia Entry (WIP)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>.</p><p>.</p><p>After living at the Corp facility for the past week, consuming allinones and sleeping in the LIB's hammock chair or on the recovery couches, Aurinda and Lala had finally gone back to their small, cozy domicile. After making a real meal they had dragged their deep, soft couch with its squishy, colorful pillows across the room to face their one extravagance, a transparent wall that gave them a view across a lake of liquid silver to the blaze of sunset behind distant mountains. </p><p>Lala was laying across Auriunda's lap, working on an Omnipedia entry.</p><p>"What have you got so far?" Aurinda asked.</p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>From Omnipedia, the galactic encyclopedia.<br/><em><span class="small">(Redirected from</span></em><span class="small"> First Parthenian Empire)</span></p>
  <p>The <strong>Guilisean Empire</strong> (RPT 4191-4577),<sup>[4]</sup> sometimes  erroneously referred to as the Parthenian Empire,<sup>[5]</sup> was the first ancient empire of <span class="u">Parthenia</span>. Centered in the city of <span class="u">Guilise</span>,<sup>[6]</sup> the empire united many hives and small kingdoms under a common language,<sup>[7]</sup> and exercised political and cultural power in the centuries before the upheavals of the <span class="u">Second Epoch</span>. <sup>[8]</sup></p>
  <p>A key achievement of the Guilisean Empire was the creation of an <span class="u">omnium</span>, <em> The Greatest Collection of all Knowledge,</em> which gathered both <span class="u">protoscience</span> and Parthenian <span class="u">magical arts</span>.<sup>[9][10][11]</sup> The work was thought lost during the period known as <span class="u">The Rift</span> (RPT 8009-8647), <sup>[12]</sup> but recent research<sup>[13]</sup> suggests that it was re-discovered during the <span class="u">Third Epoch</span>…</p>
</blockquote><hr/><p> </p><p>"That's all," Lala said. "I find the 'big sweeping high-level overview' thing difficult sometimes. And the 'include every pertinent detail' thing."</p><p>"You'll get it."</p><p>"I'm counting on you to proofread before I send it in."</p><p>Aurinda hummed her assent, and then after several minutes of silence, said. "It still amazes me that all life, no matter how distant in space and time, seems to have a core set of activities. Unless that's an observation effect of viewing it through fivespace."</p><p>"It's the stardust," Lala said.</p><p>"Hm?"</p><p>"Didn't you tell me that everything in all our universes began with stardust?" She paused. "So if we're all made of stardust, it makes sense that deep down we're all the same."</p><p>"Yes," Aurinda said slowly, stroking a strand of Lala's hair, "everything is stardust. Them, me, you. Random, uncontrollable, unfathomable. Accumulations of stardust. It's terrifying."</p><p>Lala twisted around to look up at her. "Terrifying?"</p><p>"Sometimes, but also beautiful and absolutely essential." </p><p>And then Aurinda leaned down to kiss her, and they shut down their machines and went to bed.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>
  <em>~ The End ~</em>
</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>© 2020</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A big thank you to my beta ArgentumLS, and to Gauss for helping me be a <i>little</i> less overwhelmed by the physics and scary math surrounding <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigner's_friend">Wigner's friend.</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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